Kanye West, In Third Person

No one gives an interview like Kanye West, and Kanye West rarely gives an interview, so when it does happen, it’s magic. Kanye’s interview with The New York Times is making the rounds this morning as it’s pretty much what you would expect from Kanye.

I love Kanye West. If you know me you know this. But, at times, I can loathe him. I prefer Kanye West-musician versus Kanye Kardashian or Kanye West Talking About Kanye West. It’s just…that goddamn Ego. They all have it. Every single one of them, but Kanye’s is a rare breed and how he manages it to control is fascinating to me. The NYT’s piece, for me, and for Kanye, is kind of…tame. It’s amazing, of course, but it’s not as bad as you would expect or some people, really unaware of how egotistical he can be, are making some quotes out to be.

The interview and interviewer is pretty self-serving. It’s clear Jon Carmanica, the writer, is a fan of West or, at the very least, knows who he is dealing with. So there is a lot of ass-kissing that happens which is why this is a surprisingly candid interview with Kanye, because Jon is playing the game well and Kanye is talking about Kanye with someone who likes Kanye so everything is good.

When talking about how Justin Timberlake or Gnarls Barkley lost out on Album of the Year and how upset Kanye was for them (and how he is for never winning Album of the Year himself) he says this when wanting to speak up about it:  ”I am so credible and so influential and so relevant that I will change things.” It takes a certain kind of crazy to be able to say this was a straight face. I can say this and not mean it and laugh because I know I am neither of those things. I am also not Kanye West, who is, arguably, both influential and so relevant. He is. So, he’s not wrong, it’s just, no one ever really says that about themselves. You know? Next time your boss yells at you for not up-selling enough, tell them this line and see what happens.

The stuff about My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is all colors of fascinating. He calls the album his apology and redemption to the public, i.e. he made songs for radio (I would also call 808s and Watch The Throne this, but I digress) moreover, for the people who hated him post-Swift-gate.

When talking about 808‘s and all that went into that record Jon says that it would be hard for a classically trained singer to sing the songs from that album. Um… okay… Kanye responds to that with this: “Yeah. I love the fact that I’m bad at [things], you know what I’m saying? I’m forever the 35-year-old 5-year-old. I’m forever the 5-year-old of something.” But he knows how to make me love him again, right? This is the same person that, at the beginning of the interview, calls himself influential and relevant then admits to being forever the 35-year-old 5-year-old (he #nailedit). HOW CAN SOMEONE TALK LIKE THIS AND NOT GIVE THEMSELVES A HEADACHE?

I’m going to stop spoiling the interview because if you’re a fan of Kanye it is a must. If you’re not a fan of Kanye but a fan of pop-culture, it’s still a must. Because he’s crazy. But crazy in a way that what he is saying is insane but it’s not actually wrong. Kanye has never really been wrong. I mean, what he said when he interrupted Taylor Swift wasn’t wrong it’s just how he said it and where and when. But this is Kanye West. Why are we still surprised?

I cannot wait for Yeezus, even with that stupid title.